Come Alive in the Past
by Fighter le Faye
Summary: AU drabble/oneshot series of what could have been in different dreams. In times when there's no pain, friends never go, and laughter never ends. NOT another high school fic. It's more like...kindergarten.
1. First Day, First Meetings

_What the heck is the Faerie Fighter doing now? I wish I knew. __I got too creative and too into this, and what's below is the result. __(And no, I have not forgotton of WoOXIII if you're reading that. Just need to get this out of my system.)_

_Oh, major cuteness follows. With a few big twists. __Don't kill me?_

* * *

_**~*~Come Alive in the Past~*~***_

* * *

Peeking up she saw sunlight filtering through the swaying leaves. Her stomach squirmed.

It was the first day of kindergarden.

Namine's porcelain face was tight with nerves, her fingers gripping tight on the straps of her candy-colored backpack upon her tiny shoulders. She stared ahead, seeing strangers—her soon to be classmates—running into the big stern building that was school, their parents following after them.

Wind surged again, blowing strands of platinum-blonde hair over her mournful blue eyes. She looked over her shoulder. Her tiny heart fell, seeing the car had already driven off.

She tucked her chin to her chest, fear and anxiety chaining her down.

"Mom, Roxas, hurry!"

A small shadow darted on the ground. Namine held her breath, waiting for its owner to rush by her like she was invisible. Namine had always been a quiet, invisible girl that wasn't important. People, all people, seemed to walk by her like she was a shadow. Then something collided into her from behind.

Hiccuping a cry Namine fell forward on her knees. A boy's voice yelping in surprise and pain synchonized with hers. Luckily her hands planted onto the sidewalk, saving her face.

"Sora!" a woman's voice yelled out, more running coming toward her. Namine winced as she lifted her hands, quickly wiping off the pebbles ingrained in them. When she put her hands back down she saw sunburnt ankles whirling to a stop in front of her.

She jerked her head up. A kid with spiky brown hair was holding his hand out to her. Namine instantly got captured by the kind eyes watching her.

Namine opened her mouth but no words came out—someone was concerned about her? Since when?

"Uh..."

The boy smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry 'bout knocking you down. You okay?"

Namine blinked, feeling her ears go warm. Before she could think of something to say another boy rushed up. He had the exact same face as the one offering his hand, but had pokey blonde hair sticking up. Surprisingly deep sapphire-blue eyes roved to her kneeling on the ground. It was a single distinction from, what Namine guessed, his twin's baby blues eyes. His backpack orderly on his back, his dark shirt devoid of wrinkles. There was such a quiet air about him.

The new boy was currently looking in newfound interest at Namine. She lowered her gaze at once, distressed at everyone staring at her. The attention made her palms feel sweaty and her throat tighthen.

Finally, the boy looked over to his brother.

"Sora, Dad tolds us to be gentleman to girls!" the boy chided, poking Sora's head. He obviously hadn't perfected proper grammar like most five-year olds.

Sora frowned at him, pulling his outstretched hand back.

"I said I'm sorry Roxas!"

Namine kept her gaze down. Realizing they forgot about her she started to get up on her own and escape unnoticed.

"Wait, here."

Namine looked up again to see Sora bent to her, his hand waiting for hers. Slowly, unsurely, Namine reached out for it and grabbed it. It was warmer than the blush she was wearing.

Sora gave her a huge grin, holding her frail hand in between both of his hands carefully before pulling her up.

"There!"

She smiled anxiously at him. "Thank you."

Roxas threw a sneaky smile at Sora watching this new girl in fascination, hands behind his back.

"Sora, Roxas, what happened?"

The woman who called this Sora's name earlier walked up to the three children with a worried expression, her face flushed from her sprint. Namine gaped.

She was very beautiful. Her lush long mane of chestnut hair loosely fell down her back. She was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt with black shorts, with a leather apron tied around her waist. Her burgandy eyes only on the girl, teardrop earrings swaying as she turned to her sons.

"What happened?" she asked again.

Roxas stepped up to her, craning his neck to see her face.

"Sora was runnin' when you told him not to, an' an'...and he made that girl fall down!" Roxas explained, pointing straight to the blushing Namine, all the while staring at his mother.

Tifa brushed her hair behind her ears, blinking to Namine. A kind smile awakened the bare confidence Namine never possessed.

"Honey, are you all right?" she asked and knelt down. The simple stride and movement of her body showed off the grace of someone unconcerned for beauty. Namine blinked in confusion as Tifa smiled again, gently brushing the gravel off her knees. The girl bowed her head an inch, unable to stare at her.

Tifa gently smiled again, using a softer tone. "I'm sorry for Sora's carelessness. I hope he didn't hurt you."

Namine raised an eyebrow, not used to receiving such a selfless emotion. Why were they paying attention to her? She was an invisible person all her life. Real people don't see invisble people. The girl shook her head vigorously.

Tifa pulled her arms back with an innocently puzzled expression, watching Namine stare at her toes peeking out of her faded blue sandals.

"'M okay," she finally announced.

The woman sighed in relief, flicking her eyes up to Namine.

"Good. Sora is just so excited to start school."

"Mooooom!" Sora whined, stomping his foot down once. Tifa stood back up and put her hands on her hips, sternly staring down at him. Sora crinched.

Tifa opened her mouth to speak, but stopped with a soft "oh!" and looked down the sidewalk.

Namine turned around, following her bright-eyed gaze. Her eyes widened.

A tall man with spiky blonde hair was cooly striding up to them. Namine thought he was the coolest looking person in the man did look very much like Roxas, and both of the boys with the eyes. But his were a haunted glowing blue. He was of medium build, very strong-looking. He wore a sleeveless shirt with a high collor, dark pants and boots. Also there was a black cloth covering his left leg and arm. Namine's innocent eyes got caught by the shiny silver badge of a wolf pinned on his chest until Sora's voice rang out.

"Dad!" Sora greeted with a broad grin. He ran his little legs up to the man, taking hold of his hand and directed him to Namine. Tifa hide a giggle behind her hand, seeing Cloud look embarrassed at being dragged into the spotlight.

"This is my dad," Sora introduced easily. "He's the coolest dad ever! He can do anything, an' he has this BIG motorcycle and—"

"Sora, that's enough," Cloud ordered with a furious blush, Tifa's wild laughter making him blush harder. Namine jumped at the outburst, confused at what Sora meant.

After wiping his hand down his face Cloud looked to his wife, his voice in control. "What happened? You were yelling."

Tifa shook her head, running a hand through Roxas' hair, who was now holding onto her leg. "Sora just ran into one of his classmates, is all."

Cloud looked down at the brunette boy with a sigh. "Sora, you need to be more careful. You could really hurt someone with all your energy."

"Yeaaaah!" Roxas joined in suddenly.

Sora looked at his feet, eyes shining with tears. Their father glared down at Roxas, who retreated behind Tifa's leg more.

"Everyone say you're sorry," Cloud said gently, folding his arms.

"I'm sorry," Namine mumbled readily.

"Oh not you, honey!" Tifa laughed before giving her brunette son a scowl. Sora bowed his head, but couldn't restrain his curiousity and peeked up to Namine.

"I'm sorry....um, what's your name?"

"Oh. My name's Namine."

He blinked his round eyes with furrowed brows, digesting the pronounciation.

"Nam...Na...mi...ne....Namine?"

She nodded and grinned for a split second at how he rolled her name off his tongue, feeling something like butterflies tickle around her stomach. Sora laughed in joy, seeing the brightened expression the girl had.

"There! _That's_ Namine!" he declared, pointing at her smiling face. She giggled, quickly covering her mouth in shyness, her cheeks hot. He pointed to his brother. "And that's my twin brother, Roxas."

"Older twin brother Roxas," Roxas corrected proudly, poking his head around before sticking his tongue out at his twin. Sora pouted, causing Namine to giggle some more.

Tifa smiled at the exchange and gazed down at her watch.

"It's about time to go inside, you three."

Sora perked up, excitement infecting the air so much Namine laughed a little again. His mom handed her sons their lunch boxes. She took the oppurtunity to quickly peck them on the cheek. The twins groaned with squirms, a little embarrassed.

"Give your mother a hug good-bye," Cloud said in a curt tone, walking up to stand beside Namine. The boys stared up at him before focusing on their mom. Sora launched onto Tifa first, giving the biggest hug he could. Tifa put him down and smiled sweetly to Roxas running to her, biting his lip as he crashed into her arms. Namine looked at Cloud's boots, recognizing those sad sparkles in his eyes.

After a minute she heard the ruslting of Tifa's leather Namine glanced up in time to see Tifa trace Roxas' face lovingly. He sniffed a bit until Sora walked up and Tifa stood back up.

"You'll be fine, Roxas," she promised. "You'll make good friends."

"Don't worry, Roxas," Sora assured and thunked his brother's back. "We'll play together at recess and at lunch an' stuff."

Roxas nodded, rubbing his nose.

Namine nodded to comfort him. "Uh-huh."

Taking a step back Sora turned to Namine as Roxas composed himself.

"Hey, let's go together! Who's your teacher?"

"Um..Ms. Gainsbrr—bor—"

"Oh, your teacher is our friend Aerith!" Tifa realized as Cloud lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "You're in Sora's class too."

Sora cheered, jumping up in the air. Roxas watched him with a wry expression.

Namine nodded. "Okay."

"Cloud, can you make sure they find their classes? I have to head out and get the bar ready for tonight and make sure the arrangements get in on time," Tifa said to Cloud, placing a hand on his broad shoulder. "You sure you won't—"

He nodded with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I can handle it," he assured her.

"He'll probably be there with his son, too. Sora's friend."

"I won't let him mess with my head." Tifa gave him a pointed look. Cloud's shoulders sagged and he held one hand up. "I'll behave. Promise."

"Pinky promise, Dad!" Sora told him. Cloud chuckled but did so, raising his pinky to Tifa, who wrapped hers around his. She smiled up to him, letting go to lightly pat his chest. He let out a quiet laugh, stealing the moment of their closeness to kiss her on the cheek.

Sora and Roxas made disgusted noises, looking away from the mushy love of their parents. Namine discreetly watched the exchange of love, tilting her head to the side in curiousity.

Cloud let her go and held onto Roxas' hand now, giving it a squeeze.

"See you later, Teef."

"It was nice meeting you, Namine," Tifa called out and waved. Namine nodded with a tiny smile. Pivoting around Tifa turned down the sidewalk, soon out of sight.

Cloud sighed roughly, messing up Roxas' hair.

"Well...ready?" he whispered to his son. He nodded silently, looking at the ground.

"Yeah."

Sora grinned and grabbed Namine's hand, leading her into the big building. Namine blushed again; she never held hands with anyone before. But it felt nice and safe. She trodded faster to keep up with him, feeling a little less nervous now. Cloud closely followed behind them, keeping one hand in his pocket and the other on Roxas' shoulder as he held onto his pants like a lifesaver. Namine gazed up in awe when they passed under the looming shadow of the entrance and inside to hallways tinkering with voices of excitement.

* * *

_This is all my math class's fault. My mind wanders to create random scenarios instead of equations. I can't even stick to writing a simple Namora one-shot. -heads desk- Least this isn't a high school AU kinda fic. Too many of those. We need more kiddie stories! __And you'll never guess who is Riku's daddy XD Ok, maybe you can. _

_I can see Cloud and Tifa being parents of Sora and Roxas. Probably just my stupid self though. Roxas looks so much like Cloud, even. Surely _someone_ sees the resemblences with those two...Cloud's a daddy; I am going to make him suffer. -evil laugh- But you can't deny the ultra-cuteness of Roxas as a momma's boy._

_Anyways, I might expand this into a series, whether drabbles or something else, I don't know for sure. But beware the cuteness of chibi KH characters. _

_Requests for the future, anyone?_

_FF009_


	2. Bad Daddies

_About the requests: I will do them after a few chapters. The first few chapters are kind off a quick, cute little story part. But don't be afraid to send them in, I'll get to them afterwards :D_

_This chapter...was so funny to write! _

_This is why these parents are such bad examples for their kids..._

* * *

Clinging to his father's pants Roxas gazed around at the new and huge environment that was elementary school. He couldn't even spell those words yet. Tall people stood by open doorways, feeble sunlight spilling out. Laughter and excited voices floated through the air. Everything was so big and shiny. But mostly big, bigger than him. Roxas scooted closer to Cloud, staring down to his boots.

Sora was now holding onto Cloud's hand with Namine walking next to him, ooing and laughing at all the new things and new people. When they turned the corner Cloud flicked his gaze to the right of the hall, searching for Sora's and Namine's class room number.

"Here we go." Namine perked up. Cloud looked down on her and Sora. "Your classroom is right up ahead."

The three-man team swerved around a chattered group, Namine picking up her pace to catch up. She ended up running into the backs of Cloud's legs, who had suddenly frozen on the spot. She rubbed her nose and came around to Roxas' side, seeing who his dad was staring at.

Outside an open doorway stood a slim woman with a gentle air about her. Her eyes were a deep dark green hue, wavy chestnut hair pulled up in a braid by a pink ribbon. Her hands were clasped in front of her, nodding to a man she was speaking to. Sora gasped suddenly, leaning forward.

"Riku!" Sora called out before running up to a silver-haired boy standing next to the tall man. He looked to his side just in time to jump away from Sora colliding into him.

Sora ended up losing his balance and fell down, letting out a gasp. The boy raised an eyebrow, unmoved at this.

"What're you doing?" he asked simply then blinked up to Namine rushing forward.

"Are you okay?!"

Sora gave her a cheesy grin. "Yup, Riku makes me fall down all the time. Oh!" He picked himself up and smiled again, pointing to the boy. "This is Riku, my bestest friend."

"Ri-ku?" Namine repeated in a whisper before staring at him. His aquamarine eyes widened when she smiled sweetly. "Hi."

Riku opened his mouth when a large hand fell onto the top of his head. He stopped, peeking up.

"Cloud. Good to see you."

Namine stared up (way up) to the owner of that deep, smooth voice. A man with green cat-like eyes was smirking over to where Cloud stood behind her, his long silver hair a prominent similarity to Riku.

"Sephiroth," Cloud repeated emotionlessly with a curt nod, gripping onto Roxas' tiny shoulder. He turned to the woman, a warm smile spreading over his cold expression. "Hey Aerith."

Aerith grinned, nodding to him. "Been a while since we all hanged out, huh?"

"Too long," Sephiroth continued in a chilly tone, staring haughtily at Cloud still. His hand fell to Riku's shoulder, who was watching the grown ups with a cute, curious face.

"Delivery service has been keeping me busy lately, which is good. Brings in good money," Cloud eased off, forcing himself to flick his eyes back to Riku's father.

"So I've heard."

"Behave," Aerith warned crossly to Sephiroth with a dark glare, wary of the two men now in a staring contest. "Or will I have to put you two in time out?"

"You know, we should all hang out soon and catch up."

"You'll have to run that by Tifa," Cloud responded coolly, not blinking. Sephiroth let out a soft laugh.

"I still have your number...I'll give her a call."

Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"What are they talkin' abouts?" Sora asked to Riku, who looked completely bored at this point. Roxas winced when Cloud's hand squeezed harder on his shoulder. Sephiroth laughed, broad shoulders shaking. Aerith rolled her eyes at the men and focused on Sora, using a softer tone.

"Are you in my class, little mister?"

"Yep!" Sora beamed up to the lady. "Me and Namine is your students!"

"Namine and _I_ _are_," Cloud corrected with a stern frown. Aerith giggled at them.

"It's okay, Cloud. That's why I'm here," she reassured him and turned to Roxas with a soft grin. "What about you, what's your name?"

Roxas buried his blushing face in Cloud's leg.

His father chuckled, rubbing his shoulders in comfort. "This is Roxas. He's in another class though, Aerith."

"Oh darn!" Aerith sighed loudly, snapping her fingers. "I can tell he is going to be a great student. His teacher is going to be sooo lucky to have him..." Roxas peeked one eye out, surprised at the praise.

Cloud mouthed a thank you to her. She winked back at him and walked inside her classroom to check up on the students already inside. Sephiroth smiled over to Cloud, no longer supervised by Aerith. Cloud and Sephiroth, alone...

Oh dear.

This was not going to have peaceful results.

"I heard from Zack that you and Tifa have been having some...problems lately?" he raised an eyebrow, delicately stressing the last words.

"You listen to Zack? Since when?" Cloud scoffed, trying to sound cocky.

Sephiroth wouldn't let him slide. "If you want some advise, I would suggest not to get in another motorcycle accident with your reckless driving during your job. Said you almost pulled another." Roxas and Sora paled, remembering the day when their dad was hooked up to tubes and big machines and wouldn't respond to their voices. Namine squinted at Riku, who shrugged in confusion. Cloud paled more than his sons, his arm falling away from Roxas with glazed eyes.

"Another stunt like that would make it harder for you to perform your...bedroom activities."

Cloud bared his teeth, balled fists shaking uncontrollably as Sephiroth sneered more. Namine gulped fearfully, watching Cloud's anger grow and clutched Roxas' hand.

And suddenly the kids weren't in between the two men.

Namine covered her mouth as a dark whoosh walloped into Riku's dad. Her scream was swallowed up by her shock at the speed of Cloud when he shoved Sephiroth in the wall. Sora, Roxas and Riku yelled for their dads. Namine gaped in shock, the two men shoving each other around to land a punch while certain words she never heard were shouted out. This was the first time she'd seen real violence, and on her first day of school no less. Crazy.

"_Daddy!!"_ Roxas cried out with scared eyes, hugging his backpack; Sephiroth was way bigger than his dad (even though it was Riku's dad getting hit more). Namine clinged to his arm, her voice lost. The other two, oddly, were very geared up at this.

"Go Daddy, go! Go, go, go!" Riku shouted, jumping up and down and waving his arms about.

"C'mon Dad, get him! Win, win, win!" Sora yelled, pushing a hand in Riku's face to be heard.

Adults raced down the hall to stop the fight. One man with vivid red hair pulled back in a low ponytail skidded over to the kids. A woman with strawberry-blonde hair ran up to his side, her light blue eyes locked on the fight.

"What's going on?!" she asked the kids quickly.

"Our dads are trying to kill each other!" Sora told with excitement, pointing to his dad proceeding to kill Riku's dad. The two grown-ups stared at each other in horror before bolting past the four kids.

"Lightning, get Sephiroth back!" the red-haired man shouted as he ran up, latching a hand on Cloud's shoulder. Roxas grabbed Namine's hand, trembling visibly with her.

"I'm scared, Namine," he whispered. Namine squeezed his hand.

"It's gonna be okay. They gonna stop it."

"Is your daddy being bad?" a girl's voice chimed behind them.

The two blonde kids turned around, seeing a girl with dark red hair and big blue eyes standing nearby a boy with light green eyes and spiky red hair. He blinked to them.

"Don't worries. Kairi's mom and my dad will save the day," he assured to them and poked a finger to his forehead. "Got it memorizeded?"

Kairi and Namine nodded, fear cured at his words.

"Won't my daddy get twouble?" Roxas asked in a gulp, tears in his eyes. The boy hummed in thought, biting his lip.

"Maybe. They are fighting. You get time outs and no desserts for those."

The woman, Lightning, easily ran up to Sephiroth, ripping him away by pulling his arms behind him. He tried to break free from her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Sephiroth, come on!" Lightning snapped.

"Cloud, knock it off!" Reno shouted, wrenching his blonde friend away. Cloud made for another attack but Reno pulled him away. "Calm down yo! You're scaring your son."

Aerith had dashed out of her classroom and braced herself in the doorway. She gasped, seeing Sephiroth and Cloud restrained. Sephiroth had a bloody mouth but Cloud was undamaged, only his shirt was ripped. She looked to Reno with his hands on Cloud's shoulders, whispering words to calm him down.

"What did they do?"

Lightning and Reno pointed at the two and spoke together. "They were fighting."

Roxas hiccuped a sob down, head hidden in Namine's shoulder. Cloud perked up at once and turned around for his son. His face softened when he saw him, shoulders falling.

"Roxas...Come here." He dashed over and scooped him up in his chest, shushing him quietly. "Shhh...Roxas." Roxas let out another cry again. Cloud kissed his forehead, rocking him. "I'm sorry Roxas, shh..."

Aerith and Reno looked down at Sora and Riku.

"What happened little guys?" Reno asked lazily, hands in his pockets.

"Sora's dad hit _my_ dad," Riku explained with a furious pout. "He should get in twouble."

"Nu-uh! Your dad was bein' mean to MY dad. And he made my brother cry," Sora corrected, sparkling tears in his eyes as he looked up at the grown-ups. "Riku's dad is always a mean jerk-face to my dad."

"Those idiots," Aerith growled to herself.

Reno glared at Sephiroth, still being held by Lightning. She looked around to his face before letting him go, seeing he was calmed down.

"Well this will be a memorable first day," Lightning muttered over to Reno and stood by Kairi, combing a hand through her hair once. Aerith stepped forward.

"Alright, here's the plan: My students, get inside my class and wait for me to start class until I deal with_ these _two trouble-makers," she stated, focusing on Cloud and Sephiroth, who both shifted away in fear.

"What are you going to do?" Namine asked. Aerith saw her scared eyes and knelt down to her, half smiling.

"I'm putting them in time out. And then I'm calling your wife, Cloud. Good plan, you think?"

"_OOOOOOOOOHHH,"_ all the kids and Reno went, covering their mouths. Cloud, who was still rocking Roxas, was unable to hide his blush at the mention of Tifa.

"You guys are in twoooooouble!" little Axel said in a hushed voice.

"Mom's gonna be mad at Dad," Sora whispered in a giggle to Namine.

Aerith smirked and turned to Lightning. "Would you mind watching the two trouble-makers for a while and take care of Sephiroth's injury?"

"Sure," Lightning said with a nod. She waved goodbye to Kairi, taking Sephiroth away. He rolled his eyes but walked along with her.

"Come on, come on. Go inside and wait for me, okay?" Aerith guided Sora, Kairi, Namine and Riku into her class, all four waving to Roxas with a smile. He was now quietly hiccuping with a red nose but gave a small wave back to them. Cloud didn't move, quietly rocking and whispering to him. Axel walked back over to his dad, watching Roxas with a curious expression.

Reno looked up when Aerith came back out and put her hands on her hips, sternly watching Cloud. He cringed away to stand behind Axel. Kissing his son's head again Cloud gently set Roxas on his feet, holding his hand. After a moment he brought his eyes up, stoic.

Aerith raised an eyebrow.

"Cloud."

"..."

"Well say something for yourself."

"...something."

* * *

_And this is why Riku and Sora are rivals XD _

_Ah ma ma ma ma; they're in time-out! :O -pokes Sephy and Cloud with a stick- Oi! You dudes fail for making itty bitty Roxas cry. Fail! FAAAAAAAIL!! __Tifa's gonna beat them up when she finds out about this..._

_(Seriously, it's a wonder Cloud didn't have a motorcycle accident with all his silver-hair men killing in AC. Even when Kadaj sliced him and they fell into the ruins of Midgar, he still landed...perfectly...)_

_FF009_


	3. Thanksgiving Play

_Thanksgiving special I whipped up real quick (so it's not that great, imo -.-). _

_Oh and, some of you will recognize Zack's little sister that's here, who's obviously a five-year old like Sora and the others ;) Yeah, I own her. No one else though. And keep sending requests! I'll continue the first day of school after this, also._

* * *

Tifa picked up little Roxas so he could pick up the stirring spoon on the counter. He beamed, kicking his little feet out as he stabbed it into the mixture for the mashed potatoes and started to stir it in the big bowl. Tifa laughed.

"Good job, Roxas."

Roxas giggled, proud of himself as he helped his mother finish cooking their Thanksgiving dinner. He held the wooden spoon with both hands, stirring the mush of food as steady as he could.

Tifa smiled at his diligent devotion; after he woke up, finished his breakfast, and saw his mother hard at work with Ms. Aerith, he tugged on her apron and asked to help instead of going outside to play football with his dad and friends. Aerith made a cute sound, saying that she wished he was his student too.

"The apple pie's set to cool, Tifa," Aerith announced, wiping her hands on a cloth as she walked up behind them. "And the turkey's almost done in the oven."

"Thanks Aerith."

Aerith nodded and peeked over her shoulder.

"Wow, Roxas. You're a good cook. You like cooking?"

"Uh-huh!" Roxas smiled. "I like helpin' Mommy cook. It makes her happy."

Aerith made a face to Tifa, who smiled and rolled her bright brown eyes, a smile permanent on her lips.

Aerith smiled mischieviously, unable to restrain herself.

"Awww! What a good kid you are, Roxas."

Roxas laughed and ducked his head down, bashful.

"I so knew you were going to do that," Tifa sighed in annoyance, shifting her grip around her son. Aerith laughed as Axel and his friend Tidus strolled in, their noses attracted to the delicious aroma.

"Mmm, smells good," Axel said and licked his lips, coming over to the apple pie. He pulled up in a chair at the table and reached for it. "Namine will love this!" Tidus ran over to another chair right as Roxas looked over his shoulder. He gasped in horror.

"NO!" Roxas called out, ceasing his stirring. Tidus held up his arms in surrender at the outburst, azure eyes wide. Axel jerked back, pulling his hand back like it was burned.

"Why?"

"Axel, Tidus, wait until dinner is ready, okay?" Tifa said softly. Axel sank into the chair, arms folded.

"But I HAVE been waiting. Is it ready yet, Ms. Aerith?"

"It's almost done. Why don't you play with Sora, Riku and the grown-ups in their battle of football?" Aerith suggested, knowing it was no doubt more of a battle than a game when it came to Cloud and Sephiroth. Tidus groaned.

"They're being no fun about it. My dad's with Riku's dad against Sora's dad and Kairi's mom."

"Oh?"

Tifa set Roxas down and pushed him out a bit. He blinked and looked back up to his mother.

"Honey, why don't you take Axel and Tidus outside and play with Namine? You should go play. You've helped out enough."

Roxas smiled. "Okay."

Tifa kissed him and pushed him out again, smiling as he walked out with his two friends. Aerith tilted her head to the side.

"They're all so happy..."

Tifa chuckled, elbowing her friend. "You and Zack should make one."

"What?! But he—we, I uh..." Aerith stammered, blushing uncontrollably at the thought. Tifa smiled, leaning forward to see her flustered face.

"Oh come on, I know Zack will probably propose to you sooner or later. The signs are there! Maybe even before Christmas," she suggested with a wink. Aerith frowned in thought as Tifa pushed off the counter and went to the cutting board. She picked up a knife and laid out an onion. She looked over her shoulder. "Plus, his little sister Aoife adores you and is friends with my kids already. And you two are obviously in love with each other. Reno is starting bets on when he'll pop the big question," Tifa said casually, chopping up the vegetable with swift swipes.

Aerith set her fist under her chin, thoughtful. Her mouth parted open as she looked up to Tifa's back.

"Did he...mention anything to Cloud?" Aerith asked. Tifa shrugged, the movement throwing the dusk's rays in different directions, dumping the chopped bits of onion into the bowl, stirring once more.

"Cloud always avoid answering me when I ask them that. The wimp."

Aerith sighed ruggedly, slipping down to the floor.

"Men."

Tifa grunted, setting the potatoes on the oven. "Tell me about it."

Speaking of their men...

* * *

"Alright, here's the plan: Sora, you run ahead and I'll pretend to throw the football to you. But I'll really throw it to you, Kairi. So Kairi, you run on the side and go for the goal this time. Lightning, you cover your daughter. Zack, you and I'll hold off the Reno and Sephiroth. Kairi, if you run into trouble, throw it to the closest person," Cloud spoke in his big leader's voice, in a football huddle with Sora, Kairi, and Lightning and Zack. His team was down by 14 points. But there was still time before dinner was ready, and he had to beat Sephiroth's team. They would not lose to him.

His team nodded together.

Cloud nodded and held his hand. "Alright, team. We can beat Sephiroth's team. Why?" He looked down on the two kids.

"Because we're having more fun!" Kairi answered with a bright smile. Cloud nodded.

"Right."

Lightning put her hand over his, smirking. Zack put his over hers next. Kairi and Sora stood on their tip-toes and clasped their hands over theirs. "Ready?"

"LET'S DO IT!" they cheered together and broke away. The other team was still in their huddle.

"So Riku, you will go after Kairi and Sora," Sephiroth told in a quiet tone, flicking his gaze to his son. He nodded and smiled to himself. "Aoife, you're going to stop Cloud."

Aoife's gray-green eyes widened, her freckled face blushing slightly at this task. That was their leader. A grown-up. Sephiroth had her going after either Sora or her big brother (who didn't have the heart to stop her when she was running with the football; Lightning and Cloud smacked him upside the head for this).

"Sora's dad? Bu-but he's bigger an' faster than me."

Reno nodded and gave her a wink, ruffling a hand through her long, wavy-curly dark hair. "Don't worry, you can take him because you have a _secret weapon,_" he explained, whispering the last words.

"I do?" she said in awe. Riku looked a little jealous, shifting his weight; he wanted a secret weapon.

Jecht, the last member, nodded and cupped a hand over her ear, whispering something that made Aoife giggle mischieviously. Jecht pulled back and stared straight in her big, round eyes.

"Got it?"

She nodded with a grin. "Yep!"

"Atta' girl," Jecht said and held up his hand for high-five as Sephiroth smirked, knowing his team was going to win for sure now. His son and Aoife were too cute to steal the football from.

In the sidelines, on the slope of a tiny hill in Sora's huge front yard Namine laid on her stomach and swung her feet in the air, sketcing the two teams as she hummed to herself. She put her pencil down and blew on the page, wiping it off before holding it up to the setting sun so she could see. She smiled, happy at all the people she could draw. The wind blew again, rustling the autumn leaves throught the cool air. Namine shook her hair out, letting the tickling breezes blow her blonde hair out of her face.

"Namineeeeee!"

She broke out of her trance and looked over her shoulder. Axel and Tidus were running over to her, Roxas following at their heels. She dropped her bare feet back into the grass.

"Is it ready yet?"

"Not yet. We couldn't even sneak a piece a' pie. Sorry, Namine," Tidus said with regret, laying down near her and folded his arms behind his head, staring ahead as the last team broke away.

"That's okay," Namine chimed with a smile. "My tummy's better now."

"Who's winning?"

"Riku's team," Namine answered quietly, pushing up to a sit and flopped her bare feet out in the grass. Axel hopped down on her other side and sat down, setting his chin on his raised knees as he watched the girl in Sephiroth's team run up to a place Jecht was pointing to. Roxas stayed standing, watching all the people set themselves up for the next play. He raised an eyebrow, not familiar with sports like his dad was.

Riku and Aoife stood in between Sephiroth, Reno and Jecht. On the other side, Zack stood hunched with the football, Cloud behind him. Lightning was on one side with Kairi and Sora on the opposite side. Everyone's faces were determined, set on victory. The leaves flew with the wind again, dancing over the lawn.

One flew on Kairi's head. The girl jumped with surprise. But Sora reached over immediately to pluck it out of her hair, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it so it wouldn't scare Kairi again. The girl mumbled something to him with a blush, who nodded back with a grin.

Tidus blinked in surprise at the exchange.

"Sora's weird."

"42, 23...and, um..." Zack blinked his sky-blue eyes, trying to recall the last code Cloud and the team told him to say. "Oh. Puppy dogs! HUT!!"

He tossed the football back to Cloud. Sephiroth and the other two dads looked completely perplexed at the last shout. They shook it off as Cloud ran back with the ball and Sora and Kairi ran forward, Lighnting following after the girl. Riku and Aoife shot off, both speeding for their targets. Riku got stuck since Kairi and Sora separated and he didn't know which one he should go after. So he chose Sora because he took the last swing in school yesterday.

Zack ran around and kept near the center until he skidded to a stop, Sephiroth waiting for him with an evil smirk. He had a "Oh hell no!" expression all over his face, watching the bigger and stronger man challenging him to just try and get by.

"Okay, why do I have to take him?!" Zack shouted out to no one in particular, not noticing Aoife run by his legs.

Reno dashed in front of Lighting, cutting her off from Kairi. The red head stopped and turned around, wanting to go back and save her mom.

Roxas and Namine gasped. Axel leaned forward with a curious expression, watching Aoife run with Jecht.

"Kairi keep going! Stick to the plan!" her mom called out. Kairi's blue eyes fell for a moment but she nodded and turned around, running out a bit to wait for Cloud's throw.

Namine held her breath. Riku and Sora were locked in game of paper-rock-scissors, trying to win so they could pass, and they kept drawing the same thing. So Sora declared a thumb war.

It was on.

Tidus suddenly sat up. "Whoa!"

Roxas awed loudly with the other two when his dad threw a high spinning throw for Kairi, who's mouth was wide open. "WOW. My dad's awesomeness!"

Jecht slide to a stop and retraced back for it as Aoife kept running for Cloud. Cloud's glowing blue eyes broke from the football and dilated at the girl running for him, shell-shocked when she attacked his legs with tickles.

A split between a yelp and laughter ripped out of Cloud's chest. He keeled over, pulling away a little, covering his mouth to keep quiet. But Aoife was determined to bring him down. She took the opportunity of his lowered body to reach up and tickle his sides.

"No—no, stop it!"

Kairi's wide blue eyes were locked on the falling football descending for her. She raised her arms up, backstepping over and over until the rough material thudded into her tiny hands. She blinked and brought the football in front of her, stunned.

"I...I caught it. I caught it!" Kairi cheered and jumped in the air, euphoric at her success. Namine and the kids started shouting at her to go, but she was too ecstatic at her catch. "Mommy look, I caught the ball!"

"That's great, Kairi...now run the other way!!" Lightning shouted over the children's yells, holding a protesting Reno in a half nelson. Kairi did as she requested, taking only a few steps until Jecht slide in front of her and held out his hand.

"Alright, little missie. Now hand over the ball," Jecht demanded, looking down at her. Kairi hugged the ball to her chest and turned from him; she was not going to lose the catch she just made. She never caught a football before. She wasn't going to have to stolen.

"No."

"I'll give you candy."

"NO!"

"Kairi, runs away!" Roxas shouted from far away.

"You're almost there, Kairi!!" Namine added, standing up and holding up a mulit-colored sign that said 'RUN!' she just drew. Kairi kicked a bunch of leaves at him, glaring at Tidus' dad to move. Jecht kicked more leaves back. Kairi growled and stomped up to him, stomping on his toes. Jecht let out a howl of pain, bending over.

"Kick my dad in da spleens!" Tidus ordered, springing up next to her and pumped a fist in the air. Namine blinked and glanced at him.

"Spleens. What's that?"

"Guys..."

"I dunno. I heard Wakka say that to a bully once and he got scared an' ran away."

"Ooooooh," Roxas and Namine whispered together, mystified. Wakka was a smart friend of theirs.

"_Guys!"_

"What is it, Axel?" Namine asked, turning around. Axel pointed ahead.

"I think Sora's dad is dying."

All the kids whipped around to the south end of the yard, where Cloud was on the ground near his team's goal. Aoife stretched across his stomach as she relentlessly tickled him, the adult laughing and crying out loudly with tears down his face, unable to breathe much. Cloud threw an arm over her, trying to pry her off. Aoife slide away and looked behind her.

"Riku!"

"WHAT?!" Riku was currently in a game of "I Spy" with Sora now and she just broke his concentration. He was almost ready to pass Sora.

"Help me! He's breaking free!"

"...oh. Sora, come on."

"Why?"

"Do you _want_ the grown-ups to win?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow with a dry expression. Sora stared at him blankly and then smiled.

"Okay." He turned to his friends in the sidelines. "Let's stop the grown-ups!" His friends started to run down the hill.

Riku led Sora over to Aoife, who got held up in the air by Cloud at last. He took a long breath, his flushed face firmly watching her.

"You're good."

She pouted, trying to kick herself free. Cloud sat up, holding her out and let out a rugged sigh. He was about to stand up when something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

"RAWR!!" Sora growled and pounced on his dad. Cloud's grip on Aoife loosened and she fell, quickly tickle-attacking him again with Riku. Cloud was a goner.

"Zack help me!"

Zack gratefully turned from Sephiroth but a garble of yelling kept him from responding to Cloud's cry. Slowy, with Sephiroth, he looked to his side to the quad of kids racing for them.

"Uh, what are they—"

The football thunked into the side of his head. More confused than hurt Zack blinked and stared down at it slowly rolling to a stop in between him and Sephiroth. Sephiroth stared at it too, not moving an inch.

"RUN!" Kairi screamed out to Zack, trapped in Jecht's grip.

"We gotta save Kairi!" Tidus said, pointing to his dad. Namine and Roxas blinked, quietly entraced at the football rolling to a stop.

"The ball..."

"GET THE BALL!!" Axel shouted.

Everything went crazy. In a flash Sephiroth grabbed the ball but Zack caught him and tried to wrestle it from his hands. Roxas and Axel ran for the men, determined to steal the ball for themselves. Tidus ran past Lightning and Reno to rescue Kairi. Sora, Riku and Aoife stopped tickling Cloud at the screams, long enough for Cloud to stand up and hold them in his arms, free at last.

"Ah-ha!" he smirked to the pouting kids, unable to break out of his arms.

Lightning ran after Tidus, Reno stumbling around with dizzy eyes from the beat-up in their wake. Lightning picked up Tidus and faced Jecht holding her kid, narrowing her eyes.

"Your kid for my kid?"

Jecht shrugged. "Alright."

In all the chaos of claiming the football, that said football ended up rolling out of the players' circle and bumped into Namine's feet.

She blinked and looked from side to side.

Everyone was kind of busy, so she picked it up and looked at it in wonder. Zack was getting pwned by Sephiroth, cheered on by Axel and Roxas...because they're boys and like some clean violence. Cloud ran over for Zack with the three kids in his arms as Jecht and Lightning exchanged kids. ALL of this greeted Aerith when she walked outside.

The teacher stood in dumb shock, digesting the chaos that evolved from the fun game of football she saw earlier. Namine turned to her with the ball in her hands. She blinked to the girl.

"Does this mean I win?" she asked innocently, holding the football out to her. Aerith smiled gently at her and walked up to her.

"I have a better idea," she said quietly. Namine handed it to her, curious about what she meant. Aerith aimed the ball and threw it straight at Sephiroth.

"Ow!" Sephiroth went, holding his head. Everyone stopped, looking to the person who threw the ball.

"Dinner's ready. Everyone wash up first," Aerith said sweetly but had a haughty smirk on her lips. The kids perked up at the announcement and walked back inside for some turkey. Zack grumbled, rubbing his back as he walked behind his friends. Aoife ran back to her brother.

"Are you okay nii-san?" she asked, concern and fear in her doe eyes. Zack nodded with a brave face. Aerith laughed softly, patting his shoulder.

"Need some ice, soldier?"

"You're the best," he breathed out, rubbing the back of his head sheephishly. He took a hold of his sister's hand and walked side by side with Aerith, his stomach growling, earning another laugh from his girlfriend.

Sephiroth side-glanced Cloud, coming into the kitchen. He picked up the turkey as Cloud picked up the pie, giving another to Sora and Roxas to carry together into the dining room with them.

"My team won."

"Rematch after dessert?"

"You're on."

* * *

_**Requests**_

_The Sacred and Profane: Reno and Tifa's kid Fuu meets Cloud's and Aerith's kid Riku_

_Sahxyel: Remnants_

_MysticSpiritus: Show and tell_

_(See, I have the requests so far written down...so now I have to do them lol!)_

_Oh, oh! I wanna be on Cloud's team! XD __-Namine holds up a colored sign that says 'REVIEW!'- _

_Everytime you review, one of the grown-ups gets tickle-attacked by one of the kids :D_

_Happy Turkey Day!!_

_FF009_


	4. Snow Day

_This isn't a request, but I wanted to do it. It's kinda on the spot, so...-sheepish grin- Plus, it's been ridiculously cold down here these past few days. And it's Texas, shesh! What next, snow? But that would be cool..._

_I realized, since it's Christmas time, I should write some things for this time of year. Hope you don't mind._

_Dedication: _GetYerZexiOn_ (Sorry I couldn't get it up yesterday.)_

* * *

"Brrrr!"

"I hates the cold."

"Of course you do, Axel. You're Axel," Roxas quietly agreed, huddling more into his big, puffy blue jacket. He shivered, pulling down on his ear muffs as they ventured down a big path full of fluffy snow of the deserted street. Tifa was standing in his front yard far behind them, watching until they crossed into Riku's yard, which was right around the corner.

Axel lifted his nose in the air, smug at his love for warmth and fire. "Snow is lame. Got it memorizesed?"

Roxas grunted, not wanting to upset his friend by telling him he thought it was the coolest thing since it stopped school.

His dad said school got canceled this morning because a huge snow storm hit last night. The snow had ceased for now, but his dad said there would be scattered snow fall throughout the day, and then went back to fixing his motorcycle. His sons jumped and shouted in glee, hearing only the "no school" part.

His mom bundled his and Sora's tiny bodies up in their winter clothes so they wouldn't get frost bite and sent them over to Riku's house, where all their friends were going today. Cloud snickered wickedly from beneath Fenrir at this, knowing Sephiroth would have a hassle dealing with all the neighborhood kids. Sora went ahead because Roxas and Tifa couldn't find his snow boots.

Roxas rubbed his hands together like his mother told him to when he got too cold outside. He shivered and stuffed his hands in his pockets instead, ducking his nose into the collar of his jacket.

Suddenly his friend stomped to a stop, causing Roxas to jerk his head up. A sharp wind blew Axel's long, crimson scarf back, tickling Roxas' face behind him. Roxas' hands, covered in knit mittens, went over his face, his shoulders hunching up as he held his sneeze down.

"Um." Axel scratched his head then folded his arms, deep in thought. He kicked at the ground, his big black boots sending sprays of white flying out. "Hmmm..."

"Hm?"

His best friend turned around with a sly smile, green eyes alight with mischief. He jumped closer to him.

"Let's sneak up on Sora and Riku and have a _snow war_."

Roxas' dark blue eyes shined brighter. "Snow war?"

He nodded and adjusted his scarf, his smiling mouth hidden behind it now. "Follow me. And don't talk."

Roxas nodded back. Axel spun around and ran for the end of the street. Giggling Roxas sneaked after him and they dashed down the street, crunching through the blankets of snow and rounded the street. They shuddered to a stop when they stepped into Riku's front yard, white breath escaping their lips. In the same sync they knelt behind a bush, slowly peeking above it for their targets like sneaky secret agents.

Ahead in the center of the yard was a big snow man being patted into place by Sora and Namine, talking serenely to each other as they added more snow. A hat laid on the ground nearby to bestow on the top of their creation. Kairi walked up to them from Riku's mansion home, holding out a carrot for the nose, the final piece for the face. The two cheered at their friend's success of raiding Riku's refrigerator.

Where _was_ Riku?

Axel squinted around, looking for him.

"I don' see Riku," he whispered to Roxas, wrinkling his nose. Roxas opened his mouth but something wet slammed into the back of his head. Laughter burst out as Roxas rubbed his head with watery eyes, a stinging throb on it. Axel turned around with a moody frown, scooping up a chunk of snow.

Riku blinked, his lips pressed together tight to keep quiet. Tossing another snowball up and down in the air he pretended to not notice the icy drops flying on the two.

"This is _my_ home, so don't get too comfortapple," he mumbled coolly, trying to use big words to sound smart. Roxas looked impressed.

Axel shook the snow out of his hair and stared angrily at him.

"Stop actin' so cool, Riku," he growled, clenching his fingers through the snow until it dripped down.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "I'm cool? Thanks."

Axel's mouth dropped. The silver haired boy smirked at his victory, carelessly tossing the snow ball in the air as he walked back toward the snow man. Roxas sighed.

"Let's go see their snow man," he suggested as Axel glared at Riku's back. Roxas poked his head and he broke off, blinking to the blonde boy. "You're madder than usual."

Axel blinked again and huffed away. Roxas frowned, rubbing his head again.

"I guess he really don' like the cold," he whispered and walked over his trail. He came up in between Kairi and Namine. Everyone now watched Riku try to jump high enough to poke the carrot nose in place. Axel snickered at him, being an inch taller than all of them. An inch and a half, to be precise.

"Need some help?" Axel asked, sticking the two sticks in its side so it had arms. Riku growled angrily, almost reaching their snow man's face.

"No, I can reach it—" Riku leapt up, biting down on his tongue but his fingers slipped again. He pouted, letting his feet smash into the snow again. But it didn't, surprising him when a large, warm hand grabbed his wrist, keeping him airborne. His friends gasped as one, so Riku glanced up, curious.

He grinned. "Dad!"

Dressed in dark elegant clothes Sephiroth raised an eyebrow down at Riku, gently setting him on the groundas he spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Makin' a snow man," his son answered innocently, pointing the carrot to their frosty friend. Sephiroth looked at it and sighed, taking the cold vegetable and poked it in place.

"Better?"

Riku nodded with an eager grin and hugged his leg. "Thanks, Dad. And um, can we have some hot coco?" He smiled sweetly, staring up to him with big round eyes. _"Pwese?!"_

Sephiroth sighed but nodded, putting a hand on his head. "Of course."

Riku cheered with Sora and Kairi, hugging him again. Namine walked shyly up to him, holding the hat in her hands.

"Um...can you...?" She tilted her head, holding out the black hat to him. Sephiroth looked down on her and carefully picked her up. The girl blushed as he effortlessly lifted her in the air in reach of the snow man's head. Wordlessly Namine gently lowered the hat on the snow man, gasping in happiness when she succeeded.

"It takes a child to make the magic work," he told softly as he put her back on the ground next to Riku, who had twinkles of admiration from his father. He turned back for his home, hearing the kids cheer and sing to their snow man as he walked inside with a smirk.

And they thought Cloud was the coolest dad. Please.

"We did it, we did it, we did it!" Sora and Kairi shouted, waving up to their friend with laughs. Roxas and Namine held hands and swung around in circles, giggling in pure joy.

Riku reached a gloved hand up to scratch his numb cheek.

"I wish we could make it bigger," he muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Axel asked. Riku rolled his eyes.

"I said your an idiot."

"Hey! That's a mean word!" Axel accused, glaring at the arrogant boy, who simply shrugged at this. Not wanting him to win again Axel pushed the boy in the side, so hard that Riku stumbled into Frosty the snowman. Their friends stopped celebrating when they heard it crumble to the ground as Riku fell down on it, now sitting where it should have been. The hat hit Riku's shoulder and plopped to the ground. Riku blinked his widened eyes, hair windswept from the fall.

Kairi got tears in her eyes, trying not to sniff at their friend destroyed before her. Sora pointed at Axel.

"You killed Frosty!"

"Nu-uh, Riku fell on him!" Axel explained desperately, pointing at Riku, who looked disheartened at what he did, a tear falling out of one eyes.

"I'm sorry, guys," he apologized in a quiet cry, bowing his head. "I didn't mean to fall on him." He and the others spent so much time on it and now it was gone. His heart felt cold.

Namine walked over to his side and wrapped her little arms around him. Riku sniffed, rubbing his face.

"It's okay, Riku. I'd be more sad if you were destroyed," she whispered gently. Sora and Kairi quieted down, looking terrified at the thought and ceased their tears. Riku hugged Namine back, face hidden.

Roxas nodded.

"Yep, we can make him again with all this snow," he said, gesturing to all the snow outside. "Let's go get some coco from you daddy, kays?"

"Okay."

Namine fell back and pushed up in a stand as Riku got up. Sora and Kairi each took one of Riku's hand and walked together back inside. Axel helped Namine up as Roxas waited for them. Namine's blue eyes caught his guilt expression from making Riku cry. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just say sorry an' it'll be okay again," she said and smiled for him, feeling hurt at seeing any of her friends hurt. Axel nodded and smile back, walking up to Roxas with her. Namine laughed when they raced each other to the front door and gazed back in silent awe at the winter wonderland.

After a long moment of staring at her favorite color coated upon everything, Namine walked up to the front porch, eager for some hot coco and marshmallows.

* * *

_**Requests**_

The Sacred and Profane: Reno and Tifa's kid Fuu meets Cloud's and Aerith's kid Riku

Sahxyel: Remnants

MysticSpiritus: Show and tell

_Awww, it's a fluffy friendship moment! Hugs and chocolate will make it all better, Riku. Now I want some hot chocolate :/_

FF009


	5. O Holy Night

__

A Christmas special!!! Fun fluff in this.

_My gift to you. Hope it lifts your spirits :) _

_Disclaimer: Nope, don't own. Only Aoife. Yeah, she's here again—don't kill me._

* * *

Christmas Eve at long last.

The hour was late. Children were sound asleep, warm and snug under layers of blankets. All you could see outside was soft snow falling from the calm, dark sky.

In the roasty warm depths of Riku's mansion, seven little kids were sleeping in a circle. Sephiroth made a camp out on the floor in Riku's room so they could all sleep together tonight. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Namine and Axel, along with Roxas and Aoife, were snuggled together in the nest of blankets and pillows. Kairi was curled on her side facing Sora, who was lying on his back (drooling slightly).

Riku was hugging a pillow, with Namine next to him, looking like an angel in slumber. A blanket was pulled up to Aoife's nose, snuggled under it with Roxas. Axel laid in the middle of all his friends, out like a light.

They had fallen asleep long ago. Trying to stay up late so they could hear Santa and his reindeer (most importantly Rudolph) didn't last long, having drank hot chocolate before their parents (and Aoife's older brother) sent them to bed. The sugar knocked them out in nine minutes flat.

Speaking of the adults...

* * *

The stereo was softly leaking out Christmas music, undisturbed by any noise except for rattling paper and the crackling of the fire pit.

Until Cloud walked by Zack.

"Ow, ow, OW!"

"Zack, shush!"

"What was that for, dude?!"

"Zachary be quiet. You'll wake the children."

"Not my fault, Seph—Cloud dropped the box on my pinky toe!"

"Zack."

The two comrades turned to Cloud glaring at them, donned in a white turtleneck and worn jeans. He tapped his foot, pointed to the ceiling where the kids were asleep.

"Shut up, would you?"

Lighting walked by tugging on her sweater, loudly coughing down a laugh. Zack glared at her jumping on the couch to straighten the star on the tree.

"Thank you for your concern."

She waved a hand back at him, tilting the ornament up straight. Tifa, dressed in a short, long sleeved ruby-red sweater dress, knelt down to pick up the Lego box (a pirate set, Captain Jack Sparrow included! A gift for Riku from them).

"Honestly, you'll ruin it all with your loud mouth, Zack. What if they woke up and found you acting like a retard?" she asked, shooting him a glare hotter than her husband's. "Christmas would be ruined for them."

Zack cringed, rubbing the back of his neck. It hurt when she worded it like _that._

"Sorry...but those Legos are heavier than I remembered."

"Maybe you're getting soft?" Sephiroth muttered, referring to Zack's lack of time doing serious training recently. Zack eyed him, but he found the man smoothing out his black shirt, silver bangs fallen over his cyan eyes.

Darn that beautiful hair of his. Darn it to heck!

"You're in a happier mood than usual..." Zack trailed off, suspiciously staring at his old friend with folded arms. Sephiroth straightened up, turning to him with a smirk.

"We're almost done with the setting up the gifts. Why don't you take it easy and eat the cookies, hm?" Sephiroth suggested gently, slapping Zack's stomach twice. He jerked his head behind him, pointing to the plate of sugar cookies next to the ice cold glass of milk the kids left for Santa.

Zack's eye twitched.

"Are you saying I'm getting fat?"

As if on cue for him Aerith walked in the room, coming around to check on the dying fire, dressed in her usual pink. After a few moments of shifting the wood she turned and jumped over the presents for them effortlessly.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "...in case you throw out your back, too."

Zack rolled his eyes, picking up the new video game console for Axel and walked towards the large Christmas tree, careful to jump over the train tracks that circled around it. The friends agreed to celebrate Christmas together at Sephiroth's house (having a mansion for a home, therefore, the most space). It was definitely a mission sneaking all their presents in his house without one of the children seeing him. Axel almost spotted Cloud carrying in a bicycle. (Sephiroth pushed him in a closet just when Axel turned his head around to him. It worked, even though the closet shrieked in pain and agony. Axel was even more confused when his dad made jokes about Sora and Roxas' dad "coming out of the closet.")

And then there was that incident this afternoon with Kairi and Namine walking in the kitchen for a candy cane...right when Tifa and Aerith where talking about how cute the new stuff animals (moogles to be exact) they had in there hands. Good thing for Tifa's quick reflexes.

Their untrained eyes never caught her throwing them in the refrigerator.

AND, the scariest close call of them all: two days ago the boys were playing video games in the living room. Lightning and Cloud were walking by, their heads close together in conversation. Being curious little sneaks, the boys went into secret agent mood and followed them to where they were opening the hall closet. Just as Cloud was reaching in to check on one of the presents (a snazzy jacket he got for Roxas) Lightning broke off and whipped her head around, seeing four pairs of wide eyes glued on them.

So...she shoved Cloud in the closet and threw her back against, chiding them for being naughty kids as Cloud yelped in pain within the depths of the toy-clustered closet. Reno worked up another round of closet jokes of the blonde later that afternoon.

The grown up learned some _good_ lessons because of this.

"So, we about done?" Aerith whispered to Tifa, kneeling next to her to observe the living room.

Tifa gazed around, from all the presents under the large tree that spilled out to the little bit of walking space left. The kids and the adults' presents somehow ordered around the Christmas tree. But no one could get in the dining room without taking a daring leap over the bike. Zack carefully placed the console on the coffee table, putting a cookie in his mouth. He threw one over to Reno and picked up the milk before turning around.

He stopped mid-spin, seeing Cloud drop a very huge doll house where he entered from, blocking the path. Now he was stuck in a little island where he could barely move, much less jump over all the presents.

"_Dude!_" Zack said, his shout muffled on the cookie. He snapped his fingers around, tilting his head down so he could get Cloud's attention. "Hello?!" He stretched his arms out to the tiny patch of land he had left to stand on. "I'm stuck."

Cloud blinked those big, blue eyes of his.

Then looked to the left.

Then to the right.

Then shrugged, stealing the milk from his hand and retreated over to the fireplace to talk with Lightning, Aerith and his super-strong wife.

Zack's shoulders dropped, aggressively ripping his cookie out of his mouth.

"Thanks," he snorted, rubbing the crumbs off his chin. With a huff he sat down on the corner of the table, left all alone to get fat on the remaining cookies.

Darn that Sephiroth.

He was right...

* * *

Sleepily smacking her lips Namine turned over, her hand falling onto Aoife's back. Reacting to this, Aoife rolled over on her hand. Namine's breath hitched, her body springing up. She rubbed her eyes before feeling her free hand around for her trapped arm, only finding Aoife's back.

Blindly she tapped Aoife's shoulder. After a few pokes Aoife groaned, shifting around.

"Wha?"

"Aoife, you're sleeping on my hand and it hurts," Namine whispered with a silent whimper. Aoife rolled off it, accidentally bumping into Roxas. The boy shivered before turning on his other side, pulling the blanket tighter over him as Aoife crawled out of it. She crawled through their nest, over Axel's legs and coming to near Riku's head.

"Namine?"

"Huh?"

"What time is it?"

"Night time."

Aoife yawned, waving around for the girl to stay with her. "I mean, what time is it right now?"

"The clock knows," Namine said in a sluggish whisper, fetching a spare blanket.

"Where's the clock?"

"Ask Riku." With that Namine went asleep on Sora's free side.

Aoife placed a hand down. It landed on Riku's head, who only hugged the pillow tighter. She poked his head and shook his shoulder.

"Rikuuuu...Rikuuuuuu...."

The silver-haired boy squeezed his eyes shut tighter, groaning as his arms loosened around the pillow.

"Riku!" Aoife hissed more urgently, poking his head one more time. Aquamarine eyes blazed up to her gray irises with a grumpy anger.

"Mmph?!"

"Where's your clock?"

"Above my closet door, why?" Riku whispered in response, watching the girl twist around for the time. A head of scarlet locks raised from the blankets.

"Riku?"

"Go back to sleep, Kairi," Riku replied, grouchy at his sleep being rudely interrupted. Kairi blinked indigo eyes over to Aoife staring up at the clock.

"What is it?"

Aoife's mouth was open, eyes locked on both hands pointing to twelve.

"It's Christmas..."

Kairi's eyes dilated, clutching her hands to the collar of her rosy red flannel pajamas. "Really?"

"Uh-huh." Aoife looked back to Kairi. "My nii-san told me that when, at night, if the clock points to the number twelve, thens it the next day. So, that means..."

Giggling finished her sentence, making Aoife beam back at her.

"It's Christmas right now," Kairi said softly, grinning. She shook Sora awake, getting a groan in a few seconds.

"Whazwong?" Sora mumbled, staring up with half-lidded eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Sora!" Kairi and Aoife chorused quietly to the brunette. They blinked together, hearing a soft snore emit from his defeated form.

"Aw, guess Sora's too stuck in dreams," Kairi giggled. Aoife was staring out the window, misty eyes searching past the snowflakes. "Hey, do you think Santa came yet, Aoife?"

"Dunno." Aoife bit her lip. "Maybe we should go back to sleep. What if he comes by and finds us awake? He might skip the house!"

Kairi paled, scared at the thought of Santa flying from them without a visit. She nodded, pursing her lips tight.

"Okay. We better," she whispered in the barest of utterances, snuggling down between her friends. "Good night, Aoife."

"Night Kairi," Aoife blessed back as Kairi closed her eyes. Sniffing she stretched to a stand. She kept her eyes down as she stepped back to her sleeping spot by Roxas, falling down with a soft thump. Just as she was about to lay down, something warm fell onto her back.

"What's wrong?" Axel whispered sleepily, green eyes half open as they stared over her shoulder. Aoife blinked at his body leaning on her back; he was kinda heavy.

"I woke up, it's nuthin'," she answered. Axel hummed a groan back, closing his eyes, so tired he could move off her back. "Um, Axel?"

"Mm?"

"I think we should go back to sleep, in case Santa comes."

"Mmm 'kay..."

Slowly Aoife laid down beside Roxas, causing Axel to fall sideways on a plethora of pillows besides Riku. She smiled over to Roxas peacefully dreaming and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Mistletoe."

Cloud jumped, blushing hard at Tifa pointing above them with a slight smirk.

"Uh um, yeah," he mumbled off, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment, feeling Sephiroth's green eyes on the back of his head. Tifa smiled and tilted her head to the side, loose hair encircling around her slim waist. She swayed side to side, watching her mate drop his hand and stare in sudden interest at the floor, the shadows dancing with the firelight.

"Cloud."

"Huh?"

"Can you look up for me?"

Just as Cloud lifted his eyes Tifa pushed her lips on his ever so gently. Cloud's eyes glowed bright with the shock, quickly shutting them as he deepened the kiss, gently holding the side of her face while wrapping his other arm around her back. The couple chose to ignore Sephiroth and Reno's whistles and snickers.

"Shut up, you two," Lightning said darkly, walking up to them with something in her hands. "Hey Zack."

"Hm?"

"Are you going to put this in a box?" She held out the sniffing eight-week old puppy in her cradling hands. Its big brown eyes were shut lazily as Lightning petted its coal black fur, content at the action. "And will you stop sulking and get out of there already!?"

Zack rolled his azure eyes, still trapped within the dungeon of toys. The set of cookies was devoured, but he had no milk to wash it down (Zack glared over to Cloud, who finally stopped kissing Tifa). Aerith giggled at his adorable pouting.

"Zack."

"No, no one cares about me, so leave me at peace and let me get fat off of cookies," he sulked, folding his arms. Sephiroth rolled his eyes, holding his forward as a laugh overcame him.

"I care," Aerith declared and marched past Reno over to save her man, shuffling the presents more neatly than how the men had done, eventually reaching Zack on his island. Instantly he jumped up and bear hugged her.

"Yay! I love you, Aerith!" he cheered, smooching his girlfriend on the cheek. The woman giggled at the affection and hugged him back. Sephiroth smirked, turning his head down to the flickering fire. Reno scratched the puppy Lightning was holding behind the ears, making the tail wag.

"Yo Zack, this your present for Aoife?"

Zack grinned, now hugging Aerith from behind. "Yep. I adopted him from the shelter. Think she'll like it?"

"She's going to absolutely love it, Zack," Tifa confirmed, slipping her hand into Cloud's. He nodded in agreement, a smile on his face.

"Well, are we done?"

Aerith nodded, a gleam in her eyes as she scanned all the presents (taking a second longer to stare at the gift for her from Tifa) and sighed.

"Time for bed," she yawned behind a hand, leaning her head back against Zack's chest. Reno was more than ready, already exiting for the guest room he was occupying. Lightning pivoted around, taking the puppy back to Zack's room first. Aerith walked out of Zack's warm cage of muscular arms, following after her.

Squeezing Cloud's hand, Tifa led him to the hallway, saying a good night to Sephiroth handling the fire when Zack made a funny noise. The three adults paused and whirled around, seeing Zack hop over the couch and run down the front hallway for the door.

"Zack?!" Tifa clutched her throat. Sephiroth and Cloud raced after him, confused at the sudden revival in their friend. They staggered behind him as he pulled the cool handle down, stretching the door open.

"What?" Sephiroth muttered in his ear, brow furrowed. Cloud squinted outside, bits of snow fall sweeping inside.

"I don't get it."

"Didn't you hear someone knocking?"

"No...," Tifa answered, running up to them. Cloud threw his arm out in front of her, searching the deserted front yard fruitlessly.

"I have security, so no one could have entered without me knowing, Zack," Sephiroth explained, a hand on his hip. Getting no response he put a hand on Zack's shoulder. "Come on."

Warily Cloud watched Zack, who didn't move. He put his arm down, exchanging a look with Tifa.

Zack bowed his head, sighing heavily. It quickly became a gasp.

"What is it?" Tifa asked, grabbing Cloud's arm.

Zack knelt to the ground, scooping something from the snow that fled to the gray stone porch. Standing back up he turned to them, a card in his freezing hands with a simple design of an angel imprinted on it. Even Sephiroth's eyes widened at it.

"That's...not possible."

Chuckling, Tifa pulled Zack in and shut the door, snowflakes upon her eyelashes. "It's Christmas, Sephiroth. Anything is possible."

"What's it say?" Cloud whispered, hugging the shivering Tifa.

Carefully Zack flipped it open, mustering a dry smile.

"'Merry Christmas.'" He racked a hand through his snowy hair, giving it to Cloud. "Now that was anti-climactic."

Everyone laughed together, not hearing the sound of bells accompanied with jolly laughter high in the winter air.

* * *

**Silly adults lol**

**Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!**

**FF009**


	6. Bothersome

_FF009: Blah, I'm so messed up at writing lately. But this story is the easiest for me to write, so hopefully I can get back into updating my other stories. Hopefully._

_I hope this one makes you smile or laugh. :) Remember when Sephiroth and Cloud got in that fight at school (Chapter 2), and Aerith put them in time out? Let's see how that goes..._

* * *

Lightning bent toward Sephiroth sitting in a little chair and held a damp cloth to his bruised jaw. "You want a lollipop with that, little boy?"

Sephiroth snatched it from her with a roll of the eyes and set it on his throbbing jaw. Lightning smirked and walked away, covering her laugh with a cough. Cloud just had to hit him so that he couldn't speak without ripples of stinging pain coming over his mouth. He glared over to where his rival was. He was lucky he didn't beat him up in front of his boys.

Sephiroth is not happy today.

Cloud was spread out on the fuzzy blue and maroon rug on the floor, absentmindedly sketching in a coloring book with crayons. His adorable pout was hidden behind a tiger stuff animal he was resting his head on. His blue eyes roved up to find Sephiroth staring at him.

"Yes?"

"Trees aren't orange, Cloud."

"Have you ever heard of imagination?"

Sephiroth turned his head to the window spilling morning light on them, pressing the cloth harder on his jaw. "Failure."

"What was that?" Cloud propped up on his elbows, gripping the crayons tight.

"Nothing," Sephiroth shrugged, pretending to flick off lint on the sleeve of his shirt.

"You really didn't have a childhood, did you, Sephiroth?" Lightning wondered aloud, leaning on the door of the vacant classroom. Both men turned to her, one frowning quizzically, the other smirking. She sighed and threw her arms out. "Never mind."

Sephiroth settled back to mental discussions on revenge on Cloud, and Cloud lowered himself back on his stomach, picking up a dark blue crayon to color the sky. He smashed the tiger under his chest to reach the top of the page, letting out a heavy sigh. Lightning's light blue eyes focused on Cloud.

"You alright?"

"Mm..."

"Roxas will be fine" she assured and waved a hand out. "You're not the only parent he takes after."

After a second Cloud nodded, eyes still holding worry. "Yeah...yeah."

* * *

The stamping of sneaker-clad feet filled the classroom of giggling children. The door opened and two red heads sneaked in, slipping to the teacher sitting at a big wooden desk.

A girl with hard green eyes and sleek, short blonde hair glanced up from her blocks she was playing with. She blinked at the adult's long fire-red hair talking to their teacher, Ms. Trepe, while his hand laid gently on his son's shoulder, who had the same hair but a different style. He was glancing all around at the kids and toys with shining eyes.

The girl reached over and tugged on a boy's shirt. He turned to her with confusion, his messy pinkish hair shading his eyes.

"What?"

"Whoz that?" she asked, pointing to Axel, now wandering to where a couple boys were playing with race cars. The blue-eyed boy shrugged.

"I dunno. He must be with us." He peered down at her. "Your name was Larxene, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded and smiled. "What's yours?"

He blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Marluxia."

"Can I play?" Axel asked, pointing at the red car beside the two boys. One had distant, dark eyes with dark hair covering some of his face. The other had round, sea-green eyes and dirty blonde hair in a strange style, who smiled and nodded at Axel.

"Yeah, okay!"

Axel plopped down and took the red car, driving it around the set with them until he remembered something.

"Who are you guys?"

The blonde boy eagerly beamed at him. "My name is Demyx, and his name is Zexion!" Zexion's lips flitted up in a smile for a brief moment.

"My name is Axel. A-X-E...um, L. Got it memorissed?" he said, poking his forehead. Demyx nodded with awestruck eyes. Zexion blinked and stop playing, amazed at his ability to spell. They hadn't even been taught the alphabet yet.

They talked for a while about themselves before falling into quiet play. Just as Axel was bringing his eyes down his vision caught spiky, golden blonde hair. He dropped his car and walked over to him, seeing that Roxas was tapping his fingers down a tiny piano, though not quite nailing a melody. He was smiling at the peace, none the less.

"Whacha doin' Roxas?" Axel asked from behind him, watching with curiosity. Roxas jumped before looked around at him.

"Playing music," he answered with a grin. Axel laughed and sat down next him.

Holding a stuff animal a girl watched, her short black hair falling into her eyes wide blue eyes. After a moment her vision fell to her lap and she sighed sadly. A paper airplane fell in front of her, startling her.

"Aoife, you threw it too hard!"

"Nu-uh. You're just too short, Zexinin!"

"It's _Zexion!_" the boy retorted with an angry stomp. The teacher approached the outburst with a calm expression, kneeling down by Zexion. The breathless, bright-eyed girl fumbled toward the quiet girl huddled by herself. She glanced down at her lap as the girl plucked up her airplane, but her feet didn't move.

"Hi. You wanna play with us?"

She glanced up, seeing misty gray eyes shining in excitement at a possible new play mate. Thick, wavy black hair was tumbled over her shoulders, framing a freckled face. She smiled, giving an encouraging nod.

"C'mon, it'll be more fun with another girl," Aoife almost pleaded, slapping her hands together and giving precious puppy eyes with quivering lips, a trait she learned from Zack.

"Okay." She got up on her feet. "And, my name's Xion."

"Whoa." Aoife flashed a grin. "Awesome."

* * *

"Yo!"

"Shut up, Reno."

Reno rolled his eyes with a smirk, sliding up next to Lightning sitting on one of the desks. "What stick is up Sephiroth's as—butt?" Reno corrected himself in time, not wanting to curse in an elementary school, even if no kids were around. Lightning frowned at him and sighed, shaking her head. Reno shrugged and slipped his hands in his pockets.

"Anyway, Aerith has to teach her class. But, she called Tifa and Zack to come here. They should be here in a few minutes, boys."

Cloud dropped his red crayon and put his face in his hands.

He would be sleeping out in the dog house tonight...and they did not have a dog.

* * *

Sora, Riku, Kairi and Namine were all sitting together working when Aerith called for attention.

"It's time for lunch, guys."

Riku and Sora cheered, dropping their pencils and jumped from their seats, running for their lunch boxes. Kairi giggled, pushing in her chair before following after. Namine smiled, slowly following after them. Aerith led them when they finally got a somewhat straight line and led them to the cafeteria.

As they were approaching the doors a woman's voice shrieked out.

"AERITH!"

"Uh-oh," the teacher squeaked to herself, recognizing her best friend's anger in that yell. She along with her class turned around to see Tifa marching for her alongside Zack.

"Mommy!" Sora said in a breath of joy. Aerith clasped her hands together and looked down at the children (most of who were staring at Zack, fascinated at his spiky black hair and glowing eyes).

"Guys, go on ahead and enjoy lunch."

The majority littered around the doors, eager to eat. Zack raced over and held the doors open for them while Tifa stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Aerith. Some kids looked back at Zack, who smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, bashful at their awe of him. He let the door slide to a close, not noticing Sora, Riku, Kairi and Namine hidden behind it.

"Aerith, did Cloud and Sephiroth really get into a fight?" Zack asked, folding his arms.

"Yep. Verbal and physical. They successfully exposed my new students to violence," Aerith stated, clicking her tongue with distaste. Sora and Riku grinned.

"Dare I ask _why_ they forgot themselves in front of their sons?" Tifa asked, tapping her fingers on her hips. Aerith's emerald eyes dipped to the polished floor.

"About Cloud's job. How he almost got in another accident. And other...things."

Tifa's arms fell limp to her side, forgetting to breath for a second. Trembling she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Um...uh wait. How did Sephiroth hear about it?"

Aerith glared at her boyfriend, who buckled back with a twitch of fear. Tifa's wine-colored eyes rested on him.

"_YOU."_

Sora gulped and hid behind Namine, recognizing his mother's anger. Zack put his hands up, backing away.

"Ti-Tifa, wait, I can expla—"

"You little, school-girl gossiper," Tifa hissed, stomping up for Zack. The man grinned nervously, his knees shaking.

"Aerith, sweet heart..."

Aerith turned her head to the side. "I told you not to tell Sephiroth. You know how he gets."

"Exactly!" Tifa snapped, getting in Zack's face. He put his hands together in prayer, hoping to be spared. "Cloud does not need anymore pressure in his life—helping me raise our two boys, providing our main income and trying to fit time in to spend time with family and friends. His job can be dangerous since he goes ALL over the world; anytime some random drunk could run him over again." Zack averted his gaze but Tifa grasped his hands between hers. "Your his best friend, Zack. I thought you'd understand his 'relationship' with Sephiroth."

Tifa huffed, inhaling some well-deserved air. Zack sighed and dropped his arms. Sora's mouth was open in awe with his friends.

"Yeah...you're right. Sorry." He hung his head. "But Sephiroth is my friend too."

"Maybe we need to get Sephiroth and Cloud to be actual friends," Aerith muttered under her breath, putting a finger to her chin. Tifa laughed, shaking her head.

"Then the end of the world would happen."

Zack laughed with them, giving Tifa's hands a squeeze before letting them go.

"Sooo...am I off the hook?"

"No way." Tifa grinned, reaching in her leather apron and pulling out leather gloves. Tortuously slow she stretched them over her hands with a cruel glint in her eyes. By the time she fitted them over her hands Zack was running away.

Tifa turned to Aerith, watching her with shock.

"Uh, Tifa...I'm going to need him back...in one piece."

"I'm just going to scare Zack. Sephiroth on the other hand..." She winked. "See you later," Tifa said and charged down the hall Zack was screaming for his life in. Aerith ran up a few steps and cupped her hands over her mouth

"Not in front of the kids!" Aerith bit her lip, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for letting her friends run like maniacs through the school.

Sora, Riku, Kairi and Namine hurriedly slipped in the cafeteria, their stomachs growling and heads buzzing with questions.

Now Zack is like lightning (not the woman) when he runs. He pushed himself up stairs and swerved around little kids exiting restrooms or getting a drink from the water fountain. Chanting the room Reno said they'd be in Zack skidded around. A stomp of sneakers slapped the floor, making Zack cringe.

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Tifa walk toward him with one fist raised.

Zack forgot all about his pride and ran for his life. He saw the door he was looking for open and Reno step out. Without a warning to him Zack tackled him inside and slammed the door shut with his foot as he fell with him. Lightning jumped up.

"Zack?"

"WHAT was that for?!" Reno shouted, holding his head. Zack tumbled off of him, wobbling over to hold the door close.

Sephiroth simply blinked over in surprise. Then he realized it was Zack.

"I think your in the second grade, Zack. Not fourth," he said with a smirk. Zack turned around.

"You're the reason Tifa is gonna beat me up!"

Cloud sat up. "Tifa?"

Just then a thunderous slam vibrated into the door, making everyone jump to their feet. Zack whimpered, rubbing the arm holding the door.

"Ohhhhh Tifa," Cloud whispered, quickly putting the crayons up and closing the coloring book before crawling for safety. "And I thought _we _were violent."

Sephiroth nodded at this, for once agreeing with Cloud.

"Sephiroth, I need to speak to you!" Tifa's muffled shout rang out. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. Lightning hide behind the shelf of toys with Cloud while Reno crawled behind one of the tiny desks. Zack gulped.

Another slam contacted the door. "I know you all are in there! I saw your hair, Reno..."

Zack glared at Reno. "Reno!"

"Whoops?"

"Tifa, it's okay," Cloud said, poking his head above the toys.

"Cloud, shut up."

Cloud sank behind the toys.

"_Whipped,_" Reno coughed.

"Sephiroth do us all a favor and just go talk to Tifaaaa-ah?" Lightning stopped herself when she noticed no Sephiroth where he was sitting. Then she looked back to see an open window.

Cloud shook his head. "Abandoner."

"That's not a word, Cloud."

"...Actually, I think it is, Zack."

"Whatever."

* * *

_Poor Zack, almost gave him a heart attack. _

_Axel will never be able to say his catch phrase right...never lol. Aoife trying to say Zexion's name XD _

_I'm going to keep requests closed for now until I get the ones I do have all done...Then I'll open them up again ;D Reviews are my happy pills!_

_FF009_


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